To know where you are going, you must know where you’re coming from. Let’s rewind, shall we? (This chapter is a little scarier.)

They are there all the time, watching and waiting. The flash of movement you catch in the corner of your eye as you turn your head. The thought that you try to disregard, chalking it up to your brain’s inability to process visual stimuli fast enough. Because as your heart leaps into your chest and your whole body clenches, you gather up the courage to look, turning your head behind you, you find nothing there. You breathe a sigh of relief, shaking your head for your foolishness and continue on your way.

But little do you know that the ominous feeling in the pit of your stomach is not just your imagination or a trick of the brain. No, you have every reason to be afraid because... they are real and they are watching.

In fact... they are watching you now.

Jinki was walking home on a overcast day when he felt a sudden cold chill run down his spine. It felt like... someone was watching him, following him even. He could feel an invasive presence as he continued to walk down the street, as he bent down to tie his shoelaces that had come undone yet again, as he waited for the stoplight to change at the intersection.

He tried to ignore the feeling for as long as he could. It must be a coincidence he thought, the other person just needed to go the same way as he did, that was all. There must be a logical explanation, he reasoned. But when he felt the presence follow him even when he took a little known shortcut that only he was aware of, his stomach dropped and the eerie niggling fear in the back of his mind that he was being followed only grew and grew.

This is getting weird. I know. I’ll just turn around and confront them. They probably didn’t even realize they were following me and this would have all been a misunderstanding. I’m sure of it. Jinki took a few deep breaths, calming himself. He began slowly counting in his head. Okay, on the count of three. 1-2-3— Jinki whirled around to confront the person, but there was no one... nothing even. The street was completely empty. He thought he saw a flash of movement in the corner of his eye and his heart began to race.

Jinki spun around quickly, but again, there was nothing.

There’s... no one there. Jinki laughed to himself sheepishly. Well, that was embarrassing. At least, the good news is no one saw it. He turned back around and began whistling, a habit of his when he was anxious, and pulled his hood up over his head. He decided this had all been a sign from the Universe that he should pick up the pace and not dilly-dally on his way home any longer.

He continued home, getting one street closer to his destination when he felt a flutter between his legs and then a sharp tug on the bottom of his pant leg causing him to trip. He landed ungracefully in a disorderly pile on the sidewalk. After the shock of the initial impact, he looked down, but he couldn’t see what his pant leg had gotten caught on.

Chiding himself for forever being a klutz, Jinki sat himself up slowly and began dusting himself off. As he started to get up, he heard a loud screech just next to his head, the sound echoing in his ears. Jinki’s heart rate skyrocketed, blood pounding in his eardrums.

“What the—” Jinki barely managed to say, his breathing labored and irregular. He pulled off his hood and looked around.

And yet again, there was nothing.

I need to get away from here. Something… Something deep inside Jinki told him he needed to leave at once. He had to get out of the street. Pulling up his hood once again, Jinki hurried the rest of the way home, without stopping, never once turning around to look behind him again.

Jinki rounded the final corner of his journey and his house came into view. The anxiety he had felt prior began to dissipate immediately. He was safe now. He was home. He sighed loudly, removing his hood from his head and letting the tension in his legs he hadn’t even realized he was holding go, slowing his steps to a stroll. The sky was crisp and blue here, a stark contrast to before.

As he approached his house, he saw his brother, Changmin and their mother standing outside on the sidewalk just outside of their apartment building. They both looked upwards, watching as repairmen hauled something large on a pulley to the fifth floor, where their apartment was.

He walked over to them. “Umma. Hyung.” Jinki said, greeting them.

“Oh, Jinki, you’re back.”

“Yea, what’s up, bro? What took you so long?”

“Nothing. I just got a little delayed.” Jinki replied. “What’s going on?” He pointed to the pulley.

“They’re bringing up the new washer and dryer.”

Jinki nodded. He forgot the delivery was scheduled for today.

Jinki stood next to Changmin and their mother, watching the washing machine slowly being hauled up the air. The pulley strained with the weight of the washing machine.

EEEEeeee EEEEEeeeee EEEEeeeee

A flash of movement caught Jinki’s eye and drew his gaze to the knot in the rope. He stared intensely at the rope at the bat that had just landed, but... it wasn’t a bat.

“What is that?”

“What is what, Jinki?” Their mother asked.

A tiny creature with bat-like wings, green leathery skin, and yellow snake eyes was hanging onto the rope, no bigger than one foot in height. The creature raised its long black pointed nails to the rope and looked at Jinki as it began sawing at the rope. The rope began to fray.

“It’s cutting the rope!” Jinki pointed upwards.

“What are you talking about?” Jinki’s mother and brother looked up at the pulley. “What’s cutting the rope? There’s nothing there.”

Jinki shook his head to clear his eyes and looked back up.

This time the creature smiled at him, revealing rows and rows of sharp teeth in its mouth. Saliva dripped down its mouth as it smiled at him before it continued sawing. If you could call the look on the creature’s face a smile, that is. One small strand of the thick coiled rope snapped, the ends pulling apart, instantly fraying at the edges.

The creature was taunting him.

“That thing! That ugly creature! Can’t you see it? It’s right there.” The creature stopped sawing to look at him again and then proceeded to flick him off.

Wow, HOW RUDE! Jinki thought.

“Jinki, are you okay, sweetie?”

“What?! Can’t you see it, Umma?!”

“Baby, why don’t we go inside? I’ll get you something to drink. Changmin, can you stay outside and make sure they don’t damage the side of the building? I’ll never hear the end of it from the neighbors if they do.” Jinki’s mother put her arm around him, leading him towards the front steps of the apartment building.

“Sure, Umma.” Changmin replied.

“No, please! It’s right there.” Jinki dodged his mother’s hand, spinning around to look back at the pulley. “Please, please believe me!”

Changmin walked underneath the air conditioner.

“Jinki, there really isn’t anything. You’re starting to worry me.”

Jinki watched as the creature cut the final strand of the rope with a loud snap. The air conditioner teetered violently as the rig became unstable.

“HYUNG, MOVE!!!”

Changmin looked up just in time to move out of the way.

CRASH! The washer crashed suddenly to the ground, shattering the flower pots below easily as it fell.

“AHHH!! What the heck!!” Changmin looked at the now-broken washer smashed on the sidewalk that had landed just feet away from him in complete and utter shock.

Jinki quickly looked back up at the pulley, but the creature was gone.

The repairman was on the ground immediately, apologizing for the accident. Changmin was shocked, but he was kind enough to accept the repairman’s apology. Everyone chalked it up to a freak accident. The washer was re-ordered and re-scheduled for the next day.

Jinki, Changmin, and their mother went upstairs afterwards to decompress.

“I can not believe that repairman. How could he not have noticed that the rig wasn’t set up correctly?”

“Umma, it was a freak accident. Maybe the rope was old?” Changmin said.

Jinki was shaken. How could they not have seen the creature? The image of the creature laughing at him was ingrained in his mind, burning a hole.

“Well, at least, they’re paying for both units and they gave us a credit for an appliance in the future. Changmin, are you sure you’re okay, sweetie?”

“Yes, Umma.”

Their mother and Changmin continued to talk, while Jinki looked out the window where the creature had been, staring intensely as if any second the creature would re-appear.

“Jinki, what happened downstairs?” Changmin came up behind him and asked. “What did you see?”

“There was a thing, Changmin. I—” Jinki’s voice fell when he saw the look on Changmin’s face. “I-It was nothing, hyung. I must be tired.”

Changmin nodded as this made much more sense to him than Jinki possibly seeing something that caused the accident. “Go to bed earlier, Jinki. You stay up too late playing games.”

“Boys, dinner is ready. Your father said he would be a little late and not the wait for him.”

Jinki and Changmin set the table and helped their mother bring the food to the table. Jinki was quiet as Changmin and their mother spoke about all the activity that happened today, flashbacks of the creature’s smile and pointy black nails kept appearing in his mind.

The sound of the door opening brought all of their attention to the hallway. A moment later, an older man appeared, Jinki & Changmin’s father.

“You cannot believe the day I had.” Their father began, taking his jacket off and loosening the buttons of his shirt, so he could roll up his sleeves.

“Your day?! What about our day?” Changmin started relaying the freak accident to their father. Their mother pitched in to fill any holes in Changmin’s story. Jinki stared in silence at his plate as they spoke.

“You’ve been quiet, Jinki. Was it very scary?”

Jinki looked up to find his entire family looking expectantly at him.

“It was so scary, Appa. There—” He started and then saw the concerned look on Changmin and his mother’s face. Time and sound slowed down.

No one will believe me.

“There must’ve been something wrong with the rope. That’s why it fell.” Jinki continued, his voice hollow.

The sound in the room started up again, whirling to the present.

“Exactly! That’s what I said.” Changmin said.

“I’m going to have a word with their supervisor. Changmin must have had a terrible fright. They can’t operate their business so haphazardly like that.”

The rest of dinner was uneventful. Their father discussed his stressful day at the furniture store, various difficult clients and a couch that arrived from the factory in the wrong color.

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The creature pressed its nail into his chest, just above his heart, poking a hole in his nightshirt.

“Please, please. What do you want?” Jinki said gently, his voice barely a whisper.

*This type of move is not actually Korean, it’s from the Netherlands. Large furniture pieces can be delivered through big windows in Korea, but everything is so technologically advanced in Korea that they actually use ladders with platforms for those kinds of moves and not pulleys. But, I chose to leave it in because it’s a nod to 150321 SMTown when Changmin pushed Kyungsoo and Taemin out of harm’s way as a large stage prop started descending rapidly right on top of them while they were on stage performing.